Qld Health pushes ‘satellite hospitals’ as real hospitals

A state MP claims the “deceptive” nature of Queensland’s new satellite hospitals could cause a tragedy. HEAR LEAKED AUDIO

Gold Coast MP Laura Gerber says the “deceptive” naming of Queensland’s new satellite hospitals could lead to a tragedy, as angry locals in other parts of the state express concern they have not been delivered their promised new hospitals.

The Courier-Mail on Tuesday sensationally revealed leaked audio of a senior Queensland Health director telling a staff meeting she had lobbied the state government not to use the term “hospital” on the seven new medical sites being built across the southeast.

The new satellite hospitals will not have beds or operate 24/7, but will provide various services across each site such as wound management, renal dialysis, chemotherapy and minor illness care.

Ms Gerber, the LNP Member for Currumbin, said on Wednesday she feared that if someone travelled to the new Tugun satellite hospital – currently under construction in her electorate – expecting a traditional hospital, there could be a tragedy.

“We know that the Tweed Hospital will be closing down next year, and almost one in four patients that present to the ED (emergency department) are Queenslanders. Where are all of those Queenslanders going to go when it closes down?” she said.

“We know the Gold Coast University Hospital and Robina Hospital are already at capacity, and then we have the Tugun satellite hospital which isn’t a real hospital.

“If those people who would otherwise go to the Tweed Hospital turn up to the Tugun satellite hospital there is going to be a tragedy.

“We have been deceived into thinking that’s a hospital – it’s not a hospital, there’s no ED, there’s no overnight beds, there’s no operating theatre.”

LNP Member for Currumbin Laura Gerber

Meanwhile, a Bribie Island resident said some in the community had “taken the bait” on the new facility.

“Numerous locals here in (the) Bribie area do NOT understand what we are getting with this “satellite hospital,” one local posted on the region’s community Facebook page on Wednesday.

“It was just an election promise to fool the gullible and many took the bait. So those of you that continue to be excited about this ... “hospital”, wake-up.”

Another said “they are building a medical centre ... you won’t hear me use that ‘h’ word”, while another local previously posted on local MP Ali King’s page: “You promised Bribie a hospital – and this (the satellite hospital) is not it.”

But others defended the new build, saying, “I don’t care what it’s called, I just want the services close to home.”

Overnight, The Courier-Mail reported a Queensland Health executive director has been heard on tape telling staff the state government’s signature “satellite hospital” program is a “political direction”, and she lobbied for the sites not to be branded as hospitals.

During a recorded staff briefing which The Courier-Mail understands occurred in late June, a senior Metro North Health director, who we have chosen not to name, was asked about the $265m Labor election promise to build seven satellite hospitals across South East Queensland.

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The satellite hospital program has been a cornerstone of the Palaszczuk government’s health policy, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk repeatedly claiming the program was a national first.

But in response to a question about “what the difference was between satellite hospitals and hospitals”, the senior director responded the program was “a political direction and intent that was released in 2020 and is being driven strongly through the state government”.

“I lobbied for them not to be called satellite hospitals but that is outside my control,” she said.

“These are satellites to the hospitals, rather than hospitals in their own right.”

The director notes the seven satellite hospitals will “be open seven days a week for extended hours, but they don’t work overnight and they don’t have beds”.

“So I’m walking a tightrope between when is a hospital not a hospital,” she said.

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The seventh and final satellite hospital in Eight Mile Plains was announced in February, with other sites confirmed in Caboolture, Redlands, Pine Rivers, Tugun, Bribie Island and Ripley.

The state government first flagged the commitment to build seven satellite hospitals in October 2020 – just before the previous state election – and spruiked the program as designed to ease pressure on nearby hospitals.

Bribie Island local member Ali King also pushed a new “community hospital” for the area in the lead-up to the election.

Pictures still visible on Ms King’s Facebook page show the local MP standing proudly with signs which state “Labor will build a Bribie Hospital”.

In a video, she says “there is only two days left to stick with Annastacia Palaszczuk … and to back in our very own free community public hospital here on Bribie Island”.

Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates said she was alarmed at reports health experts had urged the government not to name the centres hospitals.

“I’m also alarmed senior health officials are being forced to obey political orders when they know it could put patient safety at risk,” she said.

“Queensland voters who believed they were getting new hospitals in their area will rightly feel utterly betrayed by this.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath at the site of the Kallangur satellite hospital in September

“Palaszczuk Government MPs were openly promising new ‘hospitals’ ahead of the election which is outrageous. Imagine how people in the local area will feel when they discover they’ve been hoodwinked by their local member.

“The Palaszczuk Government told people these were hospitals in a bid to grab votes. Quite frankly it’s a disgraceful betrayal of voters.”

A Metro North spokeswoman said Metro North was “excited about the new satellite hospital project under way for South East Queensland, with sites set for Caboolture, Kallangur and Bribie Island as part of the project”.

“Metro North Health remains committed to infrastructure and innovation initiatives that further ease pressure on more acute hospital services and similarly provide streamlined, closer to home care for its patients,” she said.

“Metro North Health continues to work with stakeholders to support the strategic vision of the Queensland Government and Queensland Health as it advances health infrastructure in Queensland.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath on Tuesday night backed the satellite hospital program.

“The $280m 2020 election commitment will complement our major hospitals, by taking pressure off emergency departments while providing care closer to home for many patients,” she said.

Plans for satellite hospital at Ripley in Ipswich